Trench filler and visual guide for same



April 13, 1965 R. D. MaCDONALD 3,177,785

TRENGH FILLER AND VISUAL GUIDE FOR SAME Filed Dec. 14. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l INV EN TOR.

RAY MO RE D. MACDONALD ATT'Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 1965 R. D. M cDONALD TRENCH FILLER AND VISUAL GUIDE FOR SAME Filed Dec. 14. 1959 conveyor, belt. t

t is still. a further object of this invention to provide l a shoulderspreader attachment for road graderswherein 3,177,785 TRENCH FILLER AND VISUAL GUIDE FOR SAME Baymore D. lViacDonald, Eureka, lll., assignor to Ulmae Equipment (Company, El Paso, 11]., a corporationof Illinois Filed Dec. 14, 195?, Ser. No. 859,480 4 Claims. (Cl. 94-44) This invention relates generally to road grading equipment and more specifically to shoulder spreader attachments and visual guide devices for road building machinery such as road graders.

From time to time it becomes desirable to utilize standard, powered road building machinery for jobs other, than the initial uses for which they are built, particularly Where the machinery can operate on a road surface whose grade is established so that heavy equipment can be powered, controlled and guided thereby to perform heavy work along the side of the road, such as shoulder grading,

shoulder aggregate spreading or road side trench filling.

It is obviously a financially impractical matter to supply a particular machine to do this type of job when an attachment may be made for the standard road building machinery such as a road grader which will do the job and supply the necessary power. The attachment is shown herein in connection with a road grader for purposes of illustration, although a motor trucker tractor can be used.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention .to provide a new and improved shoulder spreader attachment for road graders which is a self contained unit that responds to the steering of the road grader yet imposes no varying weight upon pneumatic tires that would impair accurate and uniform spreading of material.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a self-supporting wheeled attachment for road graders spreader. attachment and a road grader both as to power and control transmissions wherein manpower is minimized with the power and steering done by the motor grader andthe handling of the truck dumping, spreading and general operation of the spreader is controlled by a single man on a walk-on platform in front of the material an improved guide means on the attachment is visible to the operator of the grader to assist in steering both vehicles in hitched condition and spillage ontdtheroad surface is controlled at the interface margins of the road and fill material. t l

These being among the objects of the invention, other and further objects and advantages will appear'from the drawings and the following description. andjappended claims, certain embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: l *IG. 1 is a perspective view of the road grader attachmerit of this invention hitched to the front end of a road graderwith the material control gate moved forwardly to provide a clear view of the end of the conveyor belt at its location;

FIG. 2 is an angular rear View ofthe grader attachnient; j FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of the dispensing end of the spreader attachment showing the relative disposition of the strike-off blade height, adjustment, the

United States Patent l 2 steering guide mechanism and the conveyor belt position; and,

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the indicator rod attached to the spreader attachment to assist the driver of the road grader in steering the vehicles when used in combination.

Referring more. particularly to the drawings, a standard road grader is generally indicated at 1 as having a steer-' ing mechanism 2 for the front wheels 4, an engine 3, and rear drive wheels 4', and a centrally disposed road scraper or grader blade 5. Secured to the forward framework 6 of the grader 1 isa hitch member '7 provided with an upwardly directed recess 8 (FIG. 10). Engaging in the recess 8 under the force of gravity is a hitch pin 9 which joins the ends of hitch members ill and 11, that are pivotally connected at their forward termini by pins 12 to the frame structure 13 of a shoulder spreader attachment assembly generally indicated at 14. A bolt 149a interconnecting the frame 13 at 13a and the hitch members 10 (one also for member 11), preloads the hitch pin 9 with some weight as by the winged nut ltlb when tightened to prevent inadvertent disengagement under work conditions.

The spreader attachment assembly is supported by a plurality of castered wheels 15 which render the attachment assembly steerable from the front wheels 4 through the hitch connection by the operator of the road grader ll. Transversely disposed on the spreader attachment assembly is a conveyor belt mechanism 16 which receives aggregate or fill material from a dumping vehicle for delivery laterally to the recessedshoulder area 19 adjacent to road surface 24). Upon being deposited on the shoulder area 19, the aggregate material 17 is engaged by a strike-off blade 21 and thereby moved forwardly with the grader mechanism, spread and leveled by the blade 21.

In order to determine the width of aggregate spread, the blade 21 is angularly adjustable about a hinged connection22 on the frame 13 of a spreader attachment assembly 14 (FIG. 1). The angular disposition of the blade 21 about the hinge 22 is adjustably determined by means of a telescoping rod connection 233 which is pivotally interconnected at one end 24 with a member'on the road grader 1 and at the other end 25' with the blade 21.

Forwardlybf the conveyor belt is positioned a gate member 58.,which can be adjusted to limit material delivered by the conveyor to the road bed 19. This gate is secured to the frame structure 13 preferably by a spring loaded hinge 57 and as restrained by a. chain assists in guiding aggregate dispensed from the end 59 of the con veyor belt 60 to the immediately adjacent portion 61 of blade 21. This prevents the omission of aggregate spread in the areairnniediatelyl adjacent to the road surface 2t yet p'rovides an adequate supply to rolloutwardly; and fill the trench as, the strike-off blade zlumoves forwardly. In this connection it isi'nteresting to note that the speed of the conveyor belt is controlledby adjusting the speed of a gasoline" engine 5th: with a throttle, yet if the conveyor belt tends to overrun the material supplied, the gate serves as a retarding agent and slippage between the conveyor belt and the material will accommodate the.circum stances accordingly. Thus, the gate control and the speed of the beltcan be adjusted accordingly merely by watching the pile up of the material at the gate. 1 g

Mounted on the frame structure 31 by means of a pivot pin 62 is a steering giiide Wand 63 which has a lower runner. member 64 for engaging the outer edge of. the road shrface 20 during grading operations. Theinounting of the guide wand 63 is spring-biased by means of a torsion spring 62a so that the runner member 64 is held in engagement with the road edge surface at all times. Obviously,therefore, if the operator of the road grader 1 is not correctly following the road edge during a spreading operation, the guide member 63 will tilt to left or right am ss f of a vertical'reference member 63a indicating a steering deviation as illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 4. Thus, the grader operator need only watch the upper end of the member 63 in order to make slight adjustments on the steering mechanism 2 to correct the direction of movement of the grader and hence of the attachment 14.

Attachedto the frame structure 13 adjacent to the dispensing end 59 of the conveyor belt is a relatively stiif rubber shield 72 which not only wipes the belt and prevents aggregate from feeding back under the conveyor element 60 to such a position that it would interfere with the free movement of the caster wheels 15 as the attachment 14 is propelled by the grader but it also serves as a shield overhanging the edge of the trench to confine all material to the shoulder trench 19.

The walk-on platform, movable pivotally for access to the chain drives is particularly useful at the forward edge because it is ahead of the material being laid and permits closer proximity to the material with less discomfort to the operator if hot asphalt is being spread. Thus, the platform so located dispenses with an extra man, leaving everything under the coordinated control of a team of two men, the grader operator and the one controlling the conveyor belt, thereby attaining the status of the limited personnel required to operate a self propelled trench filler, namely two men.

' Consequently, it will be readily seen how various and further modifications can be made without departing from the invention, the scope of which is commensurate with a the appended claims.

at said exposed edge into the line of vision of an operator of said propelled vehicle and a guide member for horizontal movement secured tosaid spreader assembly in close proximity to the rigid member, said guide member having a downwardly extending element biased to follow in engagement with the edge of the road and another element extending upwardly in close proximity to said reference member and movable horizontally with respect thereto so that the operator of the propelled vehicle receives mechanically a visual indication of the line of movement of the spreader assembly relative to the edge of the road.

2. In combination with a Wheeled road shoulder spreader assembly for attachment to a steerable propelled vehicle for depositing and spreading aggregate along a road shoulder, a plurality of caster wheels supporting the shoulder'spreader assembly for universal movement in a horizontal plane on a roadway, means interconnecting said vehicle and spreader. assembly in fixed longitudinal alignment, a steering guide assembly adjacent one of the caster wheels comprising a reference member secured to the spreader assembly extendingupwardly at aright angle to the horizontal plane of the road into the line of vision of an operator of said propelled vehicle and'movable horizontally with the spreader assembly, and a guide member. pivotally secured to said spreader assembly, one end thereof extending downwardly and having a runner memb'erbiased for engagement with the edge ofthe road to follow same when same and said propelled vehicle move laterally relative to each other, and the other end thereof extending upwardly in close proximity to and movable with respect to said reference member to give the operator ofthe propelled vehicle a mechanical visual indication ina transverse vertical plane of any deviations of the spreader assembly from a fixed line of movement of the spreader assembly relative to the edge of the road.

3. In combination, a wheeled road shoulder spreader assembly having a hopper to receive material to be spread, caster wheels supporting the shoulder spreader assembly to run on a road surface for depositing and spreading aggregate along a road shoulder, a propelled vehicle having front steering wheels, means connecting saidispreadel' assembly to the front of said propelled vehicle in fixed longitudinalalignment to move, the spreader assembly with a lateral component of movement in guiding it with said steering wheels, a steering guide assembly comprising a rigid reference membersecured tothe spreader assembly extending upwardly at right angles to the horizontal plane of the road into the line of vision of an operator of said propelled vehicle and a guide member pivotally secured to said spreader assembly, one end thereof extending downwardly into engagement with the edge of the road and biased to follow same during any lateral working movements of the spreader, other end thereof extending upwardly in alignment with said reference member so that the operator of the propelled vehicle receives a mechanical visual indication of any deviation from a predetermined line of movement of the spreader assembly relative to the edge of the road.

4. In combination, a trench filling and shoulder spreader unit supported in weight bearing relationship by caster wheels for universal movement in a horizontal plane on a roadway, means on said unit for receiving fill material from a truck in front of it and depositing it at one side of the roadway, a strike off blade adjustably mounted vertically on said unit for spreading and leveling the deposited fill material from the edge of the roadway outwardly, a motor grader having steerable wheels behind said unit and an operators station where such are controlled, a steering guide assembly carried by said unit in view of the operators station and comprising a reference member on said unit, a guide member movably mounted with respectto the reference member and having a runner element on it biased to engage the edge of the roadway adjacent'to a leading one of the caster wheels to provide with the relative, positions of said members a mechanical comparison indication visiblefrom the operators station for maintaining said strike olf blade in correct position by operating of said steering wheels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,480,620 1/ 24 Latture 9444 1,923,412 8/33 Bacon 37-144 1,928,551 9/33 Ball 94-39. X 2,006,384 7/35 Burgess 94-44 X 2,044,558. 6/36 Ball 94-45 X 2,076,172 4/37 Bowden 94-44 2,076,370 4/ 37 Hollingshead 94-44 2,156,190 4/39 Neuman 37-143 2,572,776 10/ 51 Smith 94-44 2,591,502 4/52 Bohannan et al. 94-46 2,654,339 10/53 Sperling 116-124 2,660,937 12/53 Breeden 94-46 2,712,279 7/55 Altgelt etal, 280-450 2,725,799 12/55 Day et al. 94---44 2,808,017 10/57 Killebrew 116-124 2,848,930 8/58 Thompson 94-44 2,935,802 5/60 Wolfe et al 37-144 2,950,660 8/ 60 Standfuss 94-46 2,971,776 2/ 61 Charley et a1. 280-450 3,015,261 1/ 62 MacDonald 94-46 3,031,938 5762 Bero 94-46 3,034,410 5/62 Ross et al 94-46 BENJAMIN BENDE'IT, Primary Examiner.

IACOB L. NACKENOFF, WILLIAM I. MUSHAKE, HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Examiners. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A WHEELED ROAD SHOULDE SPREADER ASSEMBLY FOR RIGIDLY STEERABLE ATTACHMENT TO A STEERABLE PROPELLED VEHICLE FOR DEPOSITING AND SPREADING AGGREGATE IN A TRENCH ALONG A ROD SHOULDER HAVING AN EXPOSED EDGE, A STEERING GUIDE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A RIGID REFERENCE MEMBER SECURED TO THE SPREADER ASSEMBLY EXTENDING UPWARDLY AT RIGHT ANGLE TO THE HORIZONTAL PLANE OF THE ROAD AT SAID EXPOSED EDGE INTO THE LINE OF VISION OF AN OPERATOR OF SAID PROPELLED VEHICLE AND A GUIDE MEMBER FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT SECURED TO SAID SPREADER ASSEMBLY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE RIGID MEMBER, SAID GUIDE MEMBER HAVING A DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING ELEMENT BIASED TO FOLLOW IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE EDGE OF THE ROAD AND ANOTHER ELEMENT EXTENDING UPWARDLY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO SID REFERENCE MEMBER AND MOVABLE HORIZONTALLY WITH RESPECT THERETO SO THAT THE OPERATOR OF THE PROPELLED VEHICLE RECEIVES MECHANICALLY A VISUAL INDICATION OF THE LINE OF MOVEMENT OF THE SPREADER ASSEMBLY RELATIVE TO THE EDGE OF THE ROAD. 